← 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1978 in China → 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983
Decades:	1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
See also:	Other events of 1978 History of China  • Timeline  • Years

Events in the year 1978 in the People's Republic of China.

Incumbents

• Paramount leader - Hua Guofeng → Deng Xiaoping
• Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party – Hua Guofeng
• Premier of the People's Republic of China – Hua Guofeng
• Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress – Ye Jianying
• Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference – Deng Xiaoping

Governors

• Governor of Anhui Province – Song Peizhang then Wan Li
• Governor of Fujian Province – Liao Zhigao
• Governor of Gansu Province – Song Ping
• Governor of Guangdong Province – Wei Guoqing
• Governor of Guizhou Province – Ma Li
• Governor of Hebei Province – Liu Zihou
• Governor of Heilongjiang Province – Yang Yichen
• Governor of Henan Province – Liu Jianxun then Duan Junyi
• Governor of Hubei Province – Zhao Xinchu then Chen Pixian
• Governor of Hunan Province – Mao Zhiyong
• Governor of Jiangsu Province – Xu Jiatun
• Governor of Jiangxi Province – Jiang Weiqing
• Governor of Jilin Province – Wang Enmao
• Governor of Liaoning Province – Zeng Shaoshan (until September), Ren Zhongyi (starting September)
• Governor of Qinghai Province – Tan Qilong
• Governor of Shaanxi Province – Wang Renzhong (until December), Wang Renzhong (starting December)
• Governor of Shandong Province – Bai Rubing
• Governor of Shanxi Province – Wang Qian
• Governor of Sichuan Province – Zhao Ziyang
• Governor of Yunnan Province – An Pingsheng
• Governor of Zhejiang Province – Tie Ying

Events

December

• December 18 to 22 – 3rd Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party was held. The conference marked the beginning of the "Reform and Opening Up" policy.^[1]

Undated

• SIUI (Shantou Institute of Ultrasonic Instruments Co., Ltd) – ultrasound manufacturer is founded.^[2]

Births

Deaths

• 12 June – Guo Moruo, author, poet, historian, archaeologist, and government official (b. 1892)
• 3 August – Luo Ruiqing, general (b. 1906)